Cursed: The William Brothers Saga (UNEDITED)

Chapter 27

Song of the Moment: Panic Room by Au/Ra

***********************************************

The next morning was a shit morning. All the realizations came at once. Our friend was dead. Lucian Bloodsworth bestowed a killer fire pearl that now chilled in an old ring box. The Queen of Leonboto herself gave me a secret deal to break my curse. Neither Sara or Chloe would talk to me. Nate was off the grid for the winter break and also wouldn't talk to me. My brother had redirected his attention on killing our sister which was very nice considering how much damage he had caused to all my friends. That night was the anniversary of Claire Damen's death, and I knew good and well that Sara was going back to Clockworks to make sense of that night. I just wanted things to be normal. Like before the curse.

I deeply considered the Queen's proposition. It was a good deal, I had to admit. She was a smart woman, a dangerous one. After everything that my brother had done, did he really deserve to live? He had raped, killed, and manipulated countless people. I would be doing everyone a favor. But didn't everyone deserve a chance to experience growth? Redemption? I led myself to believe that for so many years. I buried it deep inside when I found out he killed Maude and Ellie. I led myself to believe that it was for the greater good. That Ellie could've been born a horrible abomination that would've struggled to survive. But then again, when I cut her out of Maude's womb, Eleanor Rose was a beautiful, human girl. No rare deformity. No issues. She was healthy. She could've been great. And my brother destroyed her.

I had been told by friends through the years that fatherhood changes a man. It makes you stop and reconsider everything you did in your past. It made you want to build a safer world for your child. I didn't believe them until I buried my baby girl in the arms of her mother. I tried to build a safe world for them, but I failed. I failed to protect them from the monster who was right there beside me. It was at this moment as I lay in bed that I decided to do what was best for everyone involved. I was taking the deal. My brother would die.

"Hey, Anthony! I made breakfast." I heard my brother yell from the kitchen. I got out of bed and got dressed for the day. My brother stood at stove when a pan full of eggs. Bacon was laid out on a bed of paper towels to absorb the excess grease. I could smell the toast in the toaster.

"Who are you? Gordon Ramsay?" I joked.

"It's Clockworks day." He made me a plate. "The place opens up tonight for the New Year's Countdown, and Lucian sent me a text last night after you went to sleep. He suggested that we use his club as a trap for Sistine. Cool or what?"

"It makes sense. I just figured we would survive the inevitable shitstorm that will happen once Sara goes to Clockworks and figures it all out tonight. Then we will deal with Sistine." I could only handle one disaster today. Not two.

"Speaking of Sara," He nibbled at a piece of bacon. "I may have used Darwin to invite them to Clockworks as a group. Darwin and Wilson are going to go with Sara and Chloe since Nate is on vacation still. We will meet them there and make sure Sistine doesn't make a surprise appearance. Simple as that."

"When did you do all this?" I was bewildered at my brother's pro-activeness. "Did you even sleep last night?"

"Actually, nope. I did not sleep a wink last night." He had that glint in his eyes again. "I spent a long time texting Lucian. He was getting ready to head back to Alexri early due to some "unforeseen circumstances," and we kept each other company. He said that he wouldn't be surprised if there were two Pure Souls at this exact moment roaming the Earth. We track them down, Claim them at the same time, and we can both be free. No more playing around with Sara. No more games."